


Better for Who?

by MysteriousMystery



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bill Cipher is a Jerk, Demonic Possession, Demons, Homelessness, Mullet Stan Pines, No beta we die like mne, Paranoia, Paranoid Ford Pines, Stan Pines Has Low Self-Esteem, Stan Pines Needs A Hug, Stangst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27915676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysteriousMystery/pseuds/MysteriousMystery
Summary: Stan leaves his brother’s cabin with a book, but without his brother.My spin on A Better World AU!
Relationships: Ford Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 21
Kudos: 72





	1. Out of your Depth

It's freezing, and Stan can’t tell if it's the numbness he’s feeling, or if the car heater’s acting up again. His hands shake as he grips the steering wheel. He doesn’t really have a plan, he wasn’t expecting to get kicked to the curb the same day he visited Ford. It had taken practically everything Stan had to get here; he’s doubts he has a peso to his name right now. 

And for what? To get a crossbow shoved in his face? To be called worthless and told to get as far away from his twin as possible? Ford calls and so Stan comes running. And now he has a book in his car, and not enough money for food or gas.

Stan drove through the near blizzard weather at dangerous speeds. And if he was crying, no one was around to prove it wasn’t just the cold air getting in his eyes. 

\----------

Finally pulling over two towns later, Stan sighs and gets out at an isolated gas-station.   
It was in the middle of nowhere, completely surrounded by trees. The neon sign in the window flickered, and the place looked a little worn with its faded red paint.  
It had stopped snowing sometime after midnight, (and it was definitely past one am now). On the bright-side, maybe the late staff wouldn’t notice if he swiped some snacks. 

The brown haired girl at the counter suddenly jerked up when the bell jingled. Walking up to the counter, her light brown eyes tiredly looked at him. 

“There a bathroom around?”

“In the back, it’s not locked.” She pointed to a door in the far back corner.   
Normally he might have taken a chance to flirt, or do some small-talk, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to muster up the energy.

He closed and locked the door behind him and looked in the mirror. The bruise colored bags under his eyes weren’t doing him any favors right now. Long greasy hair and disheveled clothes. Put bluntly, he was a mess. Exhausted, he pushed his jacket sleeves up to his elbows and washed the dirt off his hands and arms before splashing his face. 

He still looked pretty rough, but at least he was more awake. Which was good, because he needed to figure out how to get gas and food. Gas had become way expensive since the 70’s, so driving around wasn’t cheap. Stan needed a plan, well, more of a plan than leaving Oregon. 

Stanford had wanted Stan to take that book “To the edge of the Earth” to bury it as far away as possible. Which wasn’t going to happen; considering the ‘being completely broke’ thing. And as far as Stan was concerned, Ford could go suck a lemon. Stan could bury it outside this gas-station and Ford would never know the difference. If he wanted the book gone so bad, why not just get rid of it? 

So no, Stan wasn’t going to prioritize that dumb book over getting somewhere warmer and (relatively) safer.   
And New Mexico was definitely not an option now, Rico and the whole gang are probably looking for his car. The only nearby state he wasn’t banned in yet, that would actually be warmer, was California. He suppressed a shiver. Southern California sounded nice right about now. 

Leaving the bathroom feeling a little bit more steady, Stan looked around the shop. He glanced up at the cashier, who rested her head on her hand, while blankly flipping through a magazine. 

Casually, he walked over to a shelf and, after pretending to look intensely interested in pastries, carefully slid a cinnamon roll up his sleeve. He also managed to sneak a small toffee peanut bag into his inner jacket pocket. 

He was about to leave with the stolen goods, but he stopped himself.   
Before he left he might as well get directions.   
He hadn't really been able to find any road signs since he left that creepy hick-town, and it was a miracle he made it there to begin with.

She put down her magazine when he walked up to her. Stan picked up an Atlus on display and opened it up.   
“You know which road I need to take to find Route 5? I’m having trouble finding the streets on my road map.” 

“Well that’s interesting” she said with an odd tone of amusement in her high pitched voice.  
She wasn’t looking down at the map though, an unsettling smile on her face as she stared at him. “Aren’t you a little out of your depth Goldfish?” She asked. 

“So, is that a no on the directions thing? Or are you gonna keep being weird and unhelpful?” Stan was quickly running out of patience. He wasn’t even gonna ask about the fish thing. 

“Hey buddy, It’s no skin off my back if you wanna get yourself lost in the woods forever.”   
Stan was at a complete loss for words. This definitely ties for the weirdest conversation in his life. She continued, unbothered by his silence.   
“I’m just surprised you showed up at all to be honest! If I were you, I’d have thrown in the towel a long time ago fish-sticks.” She laughed loudly, like she had just told an especially hilarious inside joke. 

“Riiiiiight…welp I’m gonna go. I think I’ve got a good idea which road I need now.” Stan laughed awkwardly, and turned to leave. Directions be damned.

Stan glanced at her again as he walked out.   
For a split second they made eye-contact. Stan felt a shiver travel up his spine. He couldn’t be sure, but he could swear her eyes looked yellow in the dim fluorescent lights.

He doesn’t feel too bad about siphoning the gas out of her car before he leaves.


	2. Chapter 2

Ford sagged with relief, It was over. Stan has his first Journal and the other two were hidden safely. No one would be able to find them all now. The meeting with Stan hadn’t gone as smoothly as he had hoped, but Stan was still going to hide the journal somewhere far away from Gravity Falls. 

Now that the journals were taken care of, his next move should be clear. The portal needed to be taken down; at least until he could figure out some way to guard the world from the Nightmare Realm. The cave walls with Bill on them also needed to be destroyed. Then he had to protect his mind from Bill’s possession. Which led him to another issue. How was he going to manage all of that on his own without falling asleep?

He hated admitting it, but he still needed help. It would be impossible to do all of that before Bill had a chance to possess him again. Unfortunately, the only qualified person who he could think of wanted nothing to do with him. But Ford was out of options, he was sure he was the last person Fiddleford wanted to see at the moment, but this was for the sake of the world! Surely he would understand! He refused to acknowledge the gnawing guilt he felt when he thought of 

Which is what led to him trampling through several inches of snow to go knock on an apartment door more than a mile away from his house. It had been about a month since the last time Ford saw Fiddleford, and this was the only place he knew to look. Even wrapped in a sweater with his coat over it, Ford still was slightly shivering. The walk to town was long and cold, his toes had gone a little numb in his boots, but at least the cold was keeping him awake. 

There was no guarantee Fiddleford was even still in Gravity Falls. Ford hadn’t been in contact with him since the portal incident. And after the way they ended things, Ford was actually starting to get nervous about how well Fiddleford would be fairing if he did find him there. F had never been as fond of the weirdness as Stanford, and who knows what horrors he witnessed on the other side of the portal?   
He needed help, there wasn’t anyone else to ask.   
So he knocked and waited anxiously for the door to open. After a minute of silence he knocked harder. Nothing. Increasingly desperate, he knocked hard enough to shake the door in its frame.

“Alright, hold your horses, I’m comin!”   
It was hard to hear the voice over the noise of clatter on the other side.  
Then the door opened about an inch and Fiddleford peered out. They looked at each other for about a minute, both too shocked to say anything meaningful. Fiddleford recovered first though, he started closing the door. 

Without thinking, Stanford shoved his hand between the door and the frame before it could close. The door slammed into his knuckles, but quickly moved back after he made a pained yelp.

Ford pulled his hand away immediately, It throbbed, but he ignored it for now.   
“Fiddleford wait, please!” Fiddleford looked at him like he’d suddenly grown another head, but didn’t move to close the door again. Stanford took it as permission to continue.   
“You were right. A-about the portal I mean. It’s dangerous, and I need your help. Please hear me out!” He was practically begging at this point, but he really couldn’t handle this alone.

The door closed more slowly this time. For a sickening moment, Ford was sure Fiddleford was going to leave him to deal with the consequences on his own. Then the door opened again, fully, without the chain lock.   
Fiddleford sighed.  
“Come in Stanford, before you catch something. You look terrible.”

The tight feeling in his chest lessened when he stepped inside. They were far from okay, but Fiddleford was giving him a chance. Which was more than he deserved after being such a terrible friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was sitting on this while I wrote out Stan's part, and I figured it was better to post what I have while I tweak out some of Stan's perspective. So this chapter is unnaturally short, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyways!
> 
> I love hearing theories by the way, the more ridiculous and out there, the better!

**Author's Note:**

> Stan doesn't really know what he's getting into does he?  
> ...and Ford never told him about Bill.
> 
> Strap in cuz this ones gonna be long guys.


End file.
